After weeks of tensions increasing, the nearly 200,000 Russian troops at the border with Ukraine launched a broad military offensive in the early hours of this morning. Many world leaders warned that these attacks could cause the worst conflict in Europe since World War II. Targeting a number of key Ukrainian military sites—many closely located to some of the country’s most heavily populated cities—dozens of deaths have already been reported in the capital of Kyiv and far beyond.
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces,” President Joe Biden said in a statement this morning. “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible. The United States and its allies will respond in a united, decisive manner. The world will hold Russia accountable.”
The first round of attacks appeared to be targeting military infrastructure, in keeping with Putin’s (widely disbelieved) claim that his objective is simply to demilitarize the country and, in doing so, quash any threats to Russia’s dominance in the region. Many predict that Putin’s next move will be to seize Kyiv and take control of the country. The attacks mark the latest chapter in what many have believed to be Putin’s endgame from the beginning of his leadership. His belief that the fates of Russia and Ukraine are inextricably tied together has been argued as a grave misunderstanding of history, but it is one that could have serious ramifications for Europe’s future.
Here, a breakdown of the lead-up to and fallout from today’s conflict and how to help vulnerable Ukrainians caught in the crossfire.
How did we get here?
The roots of the Ukraine-Russia crisis can be traced back all the way to the two countries’ origin stories, with many of the Russian nationalists backing Putin citing a special historical bond that began in the ancient world. Arguably more important here, though, is the strongly held belief among conservative Russians—particularly those who share Putin’s nostalgia for the country’s cultural influence at the height of the Soviet Union—that Ukraine was never deserving of the right to self-govern following the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc in 1991.
Source: Glamour